


Jack Daniels (and making a friend)

by Fierysky



Series: Quakerider Comfort [10]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Enemies to Friends, F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Season/Series 04
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-16
Updated: 2018-10-16
Packaged: 2019-08-03 02:09:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16317134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fierysky/pseuds/Fierysky
Summary: Daisy Johnson left SHIELD to protect her friends, but who will protect her from her self-destructive habits?





	Jack Daniels (and making a friend)

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Fictober18. Day 16, prompt “This is gonna be so much fun!”

 

Daisy was on her second bottle of Jack Daniels when an ominous knock sounded on her van.

She giggled. Only one person would be crazy enough to track her down this time of night in this part of town.

“Coming!” she sang, stepping over a cardboard box full of clothes, and a duffel bag of leftover explosives. She should do something about those.

“ 'Sup Hot Head?” she greeted Ghost Rider exuberantly.  “Here to bag a fugitive? I hear the bounty is insane.”

Robbie Reyes glared.

“ _You’re_ insane," he growled. "Blowing up a goddamn bridge? You know people get fired cause they can’t make it to work? You think about that?”

“Look at Mr. Ghost Rider, all thoughtful.” Daisy moved towards him, but misjudged her footing, and stumbled as she exited her van. “You think about the people you murder?”

It was a familiar argument, each thinking they were doing the right thing while the other wasn't.

Robbie ignored her jibe and wrinkled his nose as the strong scent of whiskey wafted toward him. “You’re drunk.” He peeked his head into her van, silently assessing the mess. 

“Why are you here?” Daisy asked, self-conscious now.

“You park your trash van in my hood and ask why I'm here?” Robbie turned his gaze back to Daisy. “Have you been able to sleep?” There was a thread of genuine concern in his voice as he inspected her face colored with leftover bruises and dark circles under her eyes.

“Who says I need to?” Daisy raised her chin.

Robbie shot her a dirty look. “You have all this crap on your bedroll and you're living in filth." 

"Why don't you clean it up if you're that concerned?"

"Fine."

Daisy blinked, that wasn't the answer she expected.

“Is this a ploy to keep me here while bounty hunters come?” She folded her arms. She was wanted by federal and state officials, and now an anti Inhuman group placed a cash reward for bringing her in, dead or alive.

"You get to continue your vengeance without me around," Daisy continued. "And a hundred thousand dollars for selling me out.”

Robbie scoffed. “How big an asshole do you think I am? C’mon now.”

“I was just about to leave-”

“You can’t drive. You’re drunk.”

“I can’t park here. I have explosives in the back.”

“ _Explosives?_ ” Robbie’s jaw dropped. This chica was certifiable.

“Not all of us have a demon to make fire,” Daisy defended herself.

“You can’t drive drunk with explosives in your van." He walked back to his car and popped his trunk. In there, he kept tools for his night job, as well as supplies to clean up when things got bloody. Tonight, he’d use it to clean out Quake’s van.

Daisy snorted and decided to go sit in Robbie’s car. She was sobering up, and the greasy smell from her vehicle was making her stomach upset.

“I probably need to lay off the fast food,” she murmured, crawling into the backseat of the Hell Charger, and with a sigh, she closed her eyes.

* * *

 

Robbie was muttering curses under his breath in Spanish as he cleaned out Daisy’s van. It was a disgusting pigsty.

“I’m probably insulting pigs everywhere,” he grumbled, as he tossed fast food wrappers and take out containers into a large trash bag. Daisy ate out for all her meals and the floor was littered in calcified fries, old chicken nuggets, with empty beer and liquor bottles. He paused at crumpled tissues and empty Kleenex boxes.

Daisy crying by herself in a dirty space didn’t sit well with him.

After two filled trash bags, he tried neatening up her interior as much as possible. The lace curtains and blankets on her tiny bunk needed a hot wash with detergent and her upholstery needed a deep cleaning.

“This mattress needs throwing out, too.” Robbie made a mental note to replace it and to take her van in for a detailing at the car wash next to Canelo’s.

He was cleaning up the dashboard and glove compartment when he came across brown and white pill bottles. It wasn’t his business, but his big brother instincts kicked in and he flicked on the light to read the labels on them.

Bone healing drugs?

Opioid painkillers?

Regeneration pills?

He squinted at the eagle symbol on them. These were SHEILD issued with dire warnings printed on the side.

“What are you doing, chica?” Robbie’s heart thudded. Wasn't there some crisis with opioid drugs? He knew Daisy was an ex-SHIELD agent from how frequently she was in the news, but he didn’t know about her health. A sharp cry interrupted his musings.

“What the hell, dude?” Daisy’s slammed into the van and made a grab for Robbie’s hands.  “Put that down.”

“Are you addicted to these?” Robbie asked calmly, letting her take the bottles.

“None of your damn business,” Daisy snapped. She shook them to make sure they were full and returned them to her glove compartment. "Don't go through my stuff."

“What do you need painkillers for?”

“I get horrible migraines because of my powers, okay? Plus I'm always getting banged up. And the vibrations affect my bones.”

Robbie’s blood turned to ice and dread churned in his gut as he remembered punching her face with all his might that time at Canelo’s and when she'd fallen to the floor, holding up her arms to block his blows, he'd broken it with a metal pipe.

Daisy’s brow wrinkled at the change in his mood, Robbie had gone as white as a sheet.

“The bone healing drugs help a lot. And the regeneration pills. The side effects don’t bother me cause I’m Inhuman.”

Robbie clenched his jaw as he mulled over the snippets about what he knew about her. Things he never thought about because Quake always seemed invincible, larger than life. She couldn’t go to a doctor as a fugitive. Even if she could, her physiology was different.

How many blows had they traded over the last few months? He could take it, he healed every night. But here was Quake sleeping in an old van, popping pills and eating literal junk.

“Robbie?” Daisy reached out at touched his arm. “You okay? Don’t tell me cleaning up my van made you sick?”

He inhaled, finally understanding the gap between him and Daisy was the difference between good and evil.

“You don’t belong here, chica. Living this life. You gotta go back.”

Daisy rolled her eyes. “And there I was thinking we were having a moment. You can’t go ten minutes without wanting me gone, huh?”

“It’s not that-”

“Get out of my van. And leave me alone.” Daisy’s mouth trembled. “I’m tired.”

Robbie reached out and trailed a finger on her cheekbone, remembering the bruise that’d bloomed and stayed there. His gaze drifted down to her arm. She’s had a sling on for weeks.

“I’m sorry. For hurting you.” Robbie knew how useless words were. It’s not like he could go back in time and change anything.

“I’m used to you telling me to leave town.” Daisy sniffled. "No biggie."

“Sorry for hitting you when we first met. And breaking your arm.”

Robbie met Daisy's eyes hesitantly, expecting to see anger at the memory but instead, she looked puzzled like she wouldn't have expected an apology from him. Her eyes grew warm.

“Bold of you to assume you actually hurt me,” she teased.

Robbie’s hand dropped and his eyes watered as he understood for the first time Daisy always had a quip and comeback to deflect from herself.

“Bold of me,” he rasped and a tear fell. He swiped his hand at his eyes angrily. He was so stupid and dense. Full of himself, and selfish.

“You look like you need a drink. You didn’t throw away my bottle of Jack did you?”

Robbie shook his head and stuck his hands in his jacket. “You wanna crash at my place?”

“What’s the catch?” Daisy raised an eyebrow.

“I get this death trap and eyesore off the streets.”

Daisy tilted her, inspecting Robbie. This was the weirdest encounter ever, beating out the time they tried to kill each other.

“I got a tow hitch,” she finally said. “ You can hook your car up and then drive my van back to your place.”

Robbie nodded, and silently got to work, while Daisy watched. Why did Ghost Rider care? They’d been sworn enemies then reluctant rivals.

“Do you wanna be friends?” she asked, impulsively.

Robbie stilled and bit his lip. He’d actually thought they already were. Why did she think he'd come looking for her after he saw her on the news for blowing up that bridge?

“Yeah,” he dipped his head. “Friends.”

Daisy grinned, as a bubble of happiness surfaced. She didn't know how long she could last without going back to SHIELD, but it would be nice to have someone else. Impulsively, she leaned in an hugged Robbie tightly. 

"Thanks for the invite. This is gonna be so much fun!”

A smile played on Robbie's lips as he drove them back to his place, glad to have found a friend in his chaotic world. 

* * *

 


End file.
